The activities for National Disability Week, which started on the 27th November and ended on 3rd December 2006 (the European Day of Disabled Persons), and which were funded through this project were as follows:

" Launch of Poster on Equal Opportunities for Disabled People.
" Recording and broadcasting of message by the Minister for the Family and Social Solidarity and a disabled person.
" A reception was held as a way of thanking all those who have worked hard for the rights of disabled people in Malta and are actively involved in the organisation of this awareness campaign, and as a means of bringing together all stakeholders in a more informal atmosphere.

The print and broadcast media were the target audience of the Meeting with the Media that was held in January 2007. This activity was addressed by the Prime Minister, the Hon Dr Lawrence Gonzi, and the Leader of the Opposition, the Hon Dr Alfred Sant. It was well attended by journalists from national newspapers, and television and radio stations and was given wide coverage in the print and broadcast media. Disabled people and family members also attended in order to participate in the discussion that followed the presentation, which focused on optimal ways in which to portray disabled people in the media that promote their rights and dignity, and move away from the image of charity and dependence.

Disability Equality Training Sessions for Schools and Youth Organisations were held from January to December 2008. These sessions were carried as follows:

As can be seen from the table above, these sessions were very popular and enabled KNPD to reach a large number of young people in order to raise awareness about the rights of disabled people and the effect of discrimination against them. Interest in this initiative was greater in schools than among youth organisations, despite repeated efforts to interest as many youth organisations as possible. The training sessions varied from assemblies for the whole school or part of the student population to meetings with smaller group of students, such as individual classes. In the case of one school (Kulle?? San Alwi?i), we were also invited to address the parents of the students during a meeting that was held in the school itself. Feedback from both students and teachers was very positive. In fact, some of the schools invited KNPD speakers to talk to their students on more than one occasion because of the success of previous visits.

March 2007:

Gozo Conference: Indaqs - Tajjeb Ghalija, Tajjeb Ghalik

As agreed in the revised schedule, the planned two day conference that was due to be held during National Disability Week was instead organised as two separate day conferences, one in Gozo and one in Malta. The Gozo conference had the same theme as the project (Equal - Good for Me, Good for You). The conference looked at different aspects of life for disabled people in Gozo. Although Gozo is part of the Republic of Malta, its tiny size and its physical isolation mean that certain socio-economic conditions are different, and those who are at risk of social exclusion are at an even increased risk on this island. The organisation of this conference on Gozitan soil and the opportunity to focus specifically on Gozitan issues was well received by those who attended. The sectors that were analysed were education, employment, the voluntary sector, the Church, health, day services, physical accessibility, access to information, and leisure. There was also a series of workshops and the Conference was also addressed by the Hon Ms Giovanna Debono, Minister for Gozo. The transcript of the speeches delivered during the conference (in Maltese) is available on from this link.

April 2007:

New resources for KNPD's Resource Centre

KNPD purchased new resources that relate to employment and equal opportunities in the place of work. These resources were added to the Wenzu Dalli Resource Centre, thus supporting members of the Resource Centre in keeping abreast with the current issues raised in the field of combating discrimination in employment. Membership to the Resource Centre is free and current membership totals more than 1200. These publications were launched in April together with the official opening of the Wenzu Dalli Resource Centre. This Centre was named after Mr Wenzu Dalli, a disabled activist who passed away in 2005 after having given many years of sterling service to the disability sector. The inauguration of the Centre took place on the second anniversary of his death.

The event was also used to present the updated easy-to-read version of the updated booklet on Services and Benefits for Disabled Persons. This aspect of the event helped to highlight the importance of providing information in alternative media as a means of combating discrimination and raising awareness among disabled people.

June 2007:

The Interfaith: Disability, Ethnicity and Religion Meeting

The objective of this event was to promote an inclusive society in which disabled people and non-disabled persons who profess different religions, or who come from a different ethnic background to meet together. Representatives of the various religions which are practised in Malta were invited to deliver speeches in which they shared their thoughts about the relationship between their respective faiths and disabled people. The faiths which were represented were Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, Orthodox and Roman Catholics, the Protestant Church of Germany, the Church of Scotland, the 7th Day Adventists and the Baha'i. The representatives of these different faiths who delivered the speeches and the members of the audience hailed from various ethnic communities living in Malta. The activity was organised under the auspices of His Excellency Dr Eddie Fenech Adami, President of Malta, who attended the activity with his wife. The participants gave positive feedback as it provided a rare opportunity to focus on the link between race, ethnicity and disability in Malta. The speeches are available from this link.

July 2007:

Disability Equality Training of Trainers

This was a weekend residential training seminar for disabled persons who carry out DET and make speeches as part of KNPD's Disability Equality Training (DET) programme. This is an important part of the work carried out by KNPD to increase awareness about disability issues and the rights of persons with disability, and also formed an integral part of this programme of activities. The training was led by Mr Mark Harrison of the Improvement and Development Agency in the UK, Vibeca Co. Ltd in Malta, and KNPD. In the last evaluation session, participants gave their feedback, which was very positive, with many of them commenting that the training had been better than their expectations.

August 2007

Open-Air Summer Activities

Two awareness-raising activities were held, one in Malta and one in Gozo. They were held in popular seaside areas in order to ensure that they attracted a large number of people. These activities consisted of dancing and singing by artists with and without disabilities. A number of short video messages about inclusion and the eradication of discrimination against persons with disability were shown together with a ten minute video about the work done by KNPD over the last twenty years. During these activities, KNPD distributed literature from a stand, as well as publicity material such as caps, biros, lenses and bookmarks with the logos of KNPD, of the European Year for Equal Opportunities for All, and of the European Union Community Action Programme to Combat Discrimination.

September 2007:

Inset Course for Teachers to launch new Holoq

KNPD published an educational pack to assist teachers in raising-awareness on the rights of disabled persons among their students. The pack consists of a number of stories and activities, all concerning the everyday life of disabled children with different impairments. School teachers can use this pack with their classes, thus ensuring that the information given to the students is correct and that a positive attitude regarding disability is induced among them.

This educational pack was launched through an in-service course for teachers, which was held in collaboration with the Education Division. The course was led by KNPD speakers, most of whom are disabled people. By means of this in-service course, the participants (who were teachers, assistant heads and learning support assistants) could learn how the educational pack can be used with students, so that this resource is used to its full potential. The feedback from the participants was very positive.

Following the success of this course, KNPD and the Education Division agreed to hold further meetings in order to further disseminate information about ?oloq. Three meetings were held in all: one for teachers of Personal and Social Development in secondary schools in Malta; one for Inclusion Coordinators working in primary schools in Malta; and one in Gozo for teachers of Personal and Social Development, guidance teachers, and assistant heads in charge of disabled students. State, Church and independent schools were all involved in the inservice course and the meetings. Each school was given multiple copies of the pack in order to ensure that different teachers can use the pack with different classes. The Times (Malta) also featured an article about the pack in its weekly Education section.

October 2007

In October 2007, the Meeting with Decision Makers was held. For this event, employers and human resources managers were invited along with representatives of trade unions, employers' associations, key government departments, the Employment and Training Corporation, and NGOs and government agencies working in the disability sector. The presentation and discussion focused on the National Employment Policy for Disabled People in Malta in the light of new developments since it was written in 1996, including the EU Employment Directive. This meeting was well attended as it generated a lot of interest, especially among disability NGOs. It would have had more impact had there been more employers. However, feedback from the participants was positive. The transcript of the meeting is available in Maltese from this link.

December 2007

National Conference: Lura . . . Lejn il-Futur

The national conference (Back . . . To The Future) was an opportunity to look back at past achievements, taking stock of the current situation, and looking forward to what still needs to be done in order to continue promoting equal opportunities for disabled people. This analysis was carried out in the context of KNPD's 20th anniversary, and the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All. The following sectors provided focus for the analyses:
" Education
" Work
" Health
" Family life
" Coordination

For each sector, two papers were delivered: one by a disabled person or a relative of a disabled person who cannot represent themselves, and the other by the Minister responsible for that sector. The speeches delivered are available from this link. (MS-Word format)

Disabled People's Parliament

This activity was held on the 3rd December 2007, the European Day of Disabled Persons. Through an invitation that was sent to all NGOs working in the disability sector, disabled people and their family members had the opportunity to voice their concerns directly with legislators and policy makers by delivering short speeches during the Parliamentary session that was broadcast live on the national television station, TVM. The Parliament was chaired by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon Mr Anton Tabone, and was also addressed by the Minister for the Family and Social Solidarity, the Hon Ms Dolores Cristina, and the Shadow Minister, the Hon Ms Marie-Louise Coleiro-Preca. Other Members of Parliament present also gave their contribution.

Launch of Special Edition of Indaqs on Equal Opportunities

KNPD published a special edition of Indaqs (Equal), which was distributed to all disabled persons registered with KNPD, and various other organisations such as schools, non-governmental organisations and private institutions. This edition commemorated the twentieth anniversary since the setting up of KNPD and the 2007 Year dedicated to Equal Opportunities for All. This edition of Indaqs describes the work undertaken by KNPD in the past 20 years in the field of equal opportunities for disabled people and measures taken in the past for equal opportunities for disabled people and their families in Malta.

For the first time, an easy-to-read (ETR) version of Indaqs was produced. In order to keep it simple and easy to read, this version was split into two publications - an ETR summary of the first part of the magazine, and an ETR version of the measures taken in the past. An audio version and an English translation of the full text were also produced. The print versions are available from this link.

These publications were presented to the media through an official meeting with HE The President of Malta, Dr Eddie Fenech Adami. This was followed by a lunch meeting.

Other Material Produced

Access for All Guidelines (revised edition)

This publication, which deals with physical accessibility in buildings, was reprinted and distributed during key activities related to this project, especially the Meeting with the Media, the two conferences and the Meeting with Employers and Unions. The publication is available from this link.

Fact Sheets about KNPD Services

Fact sheets about the following services were produced:
" Blue Sticker (Parking Badge)
" Compensation on purchase of adaptive apparata
" Exemption from payment of vehicle registration tax
" Exemption from payment of vehicle road tax.
These factsheets help increase awareness of current measures that are in place to increase equal opportunities for disabled people. They are available from this link.

Merchandise with Logos

The following merchandise was produced and distributed in the different events throughout the year in order to promote the message of Equal Opportunities for All:
" Pens
" Bookmarks (2 types)
" Caps
" Clocks

LINKS
The European Commission's anti-discrimination website http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/fundamental_rights
The Information Campaign "For Diversity - Against Discrimination" website
http://www.stop-discrimination.info
The on-line anti-discrimination database accessible at
www.nondiscrimination-eu.info
The website of the future European Year of Equal Opportunities for All (2007)
http://equality2007.europa.eu